'Emergency' relief at work

November 23, 2009|By Beth Kassab, Sentinel Columnist

It's been 11 long months of record unemployment and frozen capital markets since Gov. Charlie Crist announced his "emergency" $10 million plan to help small businesses. Now, finally, the money is being put to work and may bring a bit of relief to some small-business owners struggling to grow.

Let's not even think about how much longer it would have taken to get this program off the ground had this not been an "emergency." The good news is that GrowFL, a new program at the University of Central Florida, which won a $1.5 million contract to administer part of the state's plan, is under way.

Was it was worth the wait? The potential for great results is certainly there.

GrowFL focuses on a concept known as economic gardening, which aims to create jobs by finding ways to help home-grown companies expand, rather than luring already-established companies from elsewhere. And there really isn't anything more important than stimulating job growth right now.

"We wish it wouldn't have taken so long, but we're just excited it's here now," said Tom O'Neal, associate vice president of research and commercialization at UCF. "We need it now."

He said the program, which is free to business owners, will make available sophisticated database tools to help them figure out where their customers are and define their buying patterns. Part of the program will also focus on helping business owners make the best hiring decisions.

To be eligible, companies must be in the "second stage" of their development; that is, they must employ 10 to 50 people, generate between $1 million to $25 million a year in revenue, and have had both revenue and employment growth for three of the past five years.

The other component of the program is $8.5 million in loans available through the Orlando-based Black Business Investment Fund and Tallahassee-based Florida First Capital Finance Corp.

O'Neal said he hopes to find other sources of money for the one-year pilot so that it eventually becomes a self-sustaining program.

To apply for the program, visit GrowFL.com.

Catching up with Lauren Rowe

This week marks the official beginning of the holiday blitz, a time that can be especially dizzying for working moms. Add festive place settings, baking and refereeing large family gatherings to the usual business of meeting deadlines at work and picking macaroni and cheese off the kitchen floor.

To see how one working mom manages it all, I caught up with WKMG-Channel 6 news anchor Lauren Rowe. She juggles 3-year-old and 10-month-old daughters, the nightly 11 o'clock news and a weekly political show, Flashpoint -- all with perfect hair and make-up.

Question: What are your Thanksgiving plans?

Answer: The family is coming to our house and we're going to have everybody for dinner. It's more of a potluck situation. I will probably provide the table settings and maybe a pumpkin pie.

Q: Do you ever feel that holiday crunch?

A: Doesn't everybody? The past couple of years when we've been pregnant ... I didn't get Christmas cards out last year. You just can't do it all.

Q: How do you handle the work-family balance?

A: To be honest, I'm a stay-at-home mom who goes to work at night. I'm blessed to be able to do that. I try to be in bed by 12:30 a.m. and I try to get up by 7 a.m. It can be kind of tough. There's no stopping for me. I'm with them [the kids] all day until I go to work.

Q: What's it like at 11 p.m. having to compete with The Daily Show?

A: I love that show. It's really not competing against The Daily Show. It's about competing against cable in general. Our business is changing. We understand people have so many choices, we have to really raise our game.

Q: Do you plan to continue Flashpoint on Sunday mornings?

A: We're going on nine years this July. ... We need political coverage more than we ever have in the past, because it's gotten so partisan and so volatile. We can't afford to lose a platform where for more than 20 minutes we actually hear an argument from beginning to end.

Q: Do larger, high-definition televisions put more pressure on the hair and make-up?

A: Oh gosh, yes. I'm not getting any younger, and I'm definitely getting more tired. My face is like 2 feet tall in someone's living room. ... People at home want to relate to the person who is giving them the news. I don't think people want a supermodel giving them the news. I'm hoping people are watching me for what we're reporting, what I'm saying, rather than what I look like and what I'm wearing.